Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 554,293 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after buying an additional 10,018 shares during the period. Verizon Communications accounts for about 0.3% of Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $20,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 351,625,025 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,396,167,000 after purchasing an additional 930,367 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,027,542 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $3,151,714,000 after acquiring an additional 4,527,387 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,621,839 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $1,446,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015,139 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,400,326 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $920,455,000 after purchasing an additional 4,134,150 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Verizon Communications by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,261,791 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $300,175,000 after buying an additional 1,385,957 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $604,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,387,576.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE VZ traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.69. 25,970,800 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,270,385. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.52 and its 200-day moving average is $38.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.69. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.14 and a 12-month high of $43.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.41.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.23 billion. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.71% and a net margin of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.665 dividend. This represents a $2.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VZ has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Verizon Communications from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Verizon Communications from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Verizon Communications from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verizon Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.21.

Verizon Communications Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).